


True Love

by The Lost Butterfly (Butterfly553)



Category: EXO (Band), K-pop, NCT (Band), SHINee
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Eventual Romance, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Mental Health Issues, Romance, Soulmates, True Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-14
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-21 23:08:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30029286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Butterfly553/pseuds/The%20Lost%20Butterfly
Summary: Arcadia's best friend and sister, Eclipse, found her true love in Taemin. Can Arcadia find hers next, or will she allow things to get in the way of her true love?Coven is a new girl group for SM Entertainment. As they rise in popularity, what will happen to them? Will they become everything they wanted to be, or will they crack under the pressure of their lives?
Relationships: Lee Taemin/Original Female Character(s), Lee Taeyong/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 1





	1. Disclaimer

This is a work of fiction. Any events in this story are made up. The original characters belong to myself and my sister. Nothing is meant to be harmful towards anyone or meant to upset anyone. This is a story idea that I had for a little while now. Let's hope I can finish it. Just come along with me for a ride through my imagined world.

Thank you all. ~ JMG


	2. Chapter 1

“Psst, wake up!” Arcadia woke up to her best friend and half-sister, Eclipse, shaking her awake. 

“What is it? It's like... Well, I don't know what time it is because I can't see, but it's not even light outside yet.” Arcadia grumbled as she sat up in bed. She rubbed her eyes and reached for her glasses before putting them on. She then looked at the time and saw that it was actually around 8 am. “Oh shit. It isn't that early after all... Well for me, but it is for you.”

“You have blackout curtains, that's why it's still so dark. Also, I know that it's early for me, but I never really went to sleep in the first place.” Eclipse responded simply as she sat down on Arcadia's bed. 

“What? Why?”

“Taemin is coming over today, that's why. Did you forget?”

“Huh? Oh fuck, your right. It is today, isn't it?” Arcadia chuckled as she turned on her phone screen to look at the date. “I can't believe it's already been a week since we got here in Korea.” 

“Yeah, and this is the first time we're hanging out with Taemin since he left Japan a few months ago.”

“Are you nervous? Is that why you didn't sleep and woke me up an hour before I was supposed to get up?” 

“Yes, I also cleaned the entirety of my room and some of the common areas. But enough about that, I'm having a crisis.” Eclipse spoke as she stood up from the bed. “Now let's go to my room. I need help.” 

“Need help with what? And you cleaned your whole room? Seriously?” Arcadia asked as she remained still and not moving. Arcadia was a bit surprised that her sister cleaned her room, considering she didn't like to clean her stuff most of the time. 

“I can't figure out what I want to wear.” Eclipse ignored Arcadia's concern about Eclipse's room. 

“Seriously? And you want my help?” Arcadia was surprised, as she wasn't really one who knew fashion all that much. “Go wake up Amara or something. She's our fashion girl.” Arcadia was about to take off her glasses when Eclipse spoke up again.

“I know that, but you're my sister and best friend, so it's your job to help me with things like this.” Eclipse was clearly not giving Arcadia any out for this. 

“Okay, let's go then.” Arcadia sighed as she climbed out of bed and righted her sleep clothes, which consisted of shorts and a tank top. Eclipse and Arcadia went into the room next door which was Eclipse's room. Arcadia sat down on Eclipse's bed and looked around the room. Eclipse had told the truth, she indeed cleaned her room. It usually had a bit of clutter to it, but the room was completely clutter-free. 

“So, should I go casual fancy or just regular fancy? Or should I go full-on witchy and get all dolled up.” Eclipse asked as she began to look through her closet. 

“Hmm... Well definitely not all dolled up and witchy. You don't really need to be fancy either. You've already met him and we aren't going anywhere, so there isn't any need to get fancy.” Arcadia responded simply as she looked at Eclipse and her clothes. 

“Alright. So casual fancy.”

“Still fancy?”

“You know me. I have to be fancy in some way. It's how I am.” Hearing this from Eclipse caused Arcadia to laugh. “So, what should I wear then?” 

“Something black, purple, and silver.”

“That is literally all that I have to wear, you know that. Don't get all snarky with me.” Eclipse heard Arcadia laugh a bit before she got up and moved to the closet with Eclipse. 

“Alright, let's look through your stuff. I think I know what would be best for today.” 

Eclipse and Arcadia then went into her closet the best they could and began to sort through all of the black, purple, and silver that was in there. They finally settled on an outfit. The outfit consisted of a pair of super soft bell-bottoms that had a black and purple paisley design and her shirt was chosen to be an oversized black lacy shirt. She chose not to wear any socks or shoes since they were just staying in the dorm. Eclipse, of course, wore all her jewelry. The jewelry consisted of 2 necklaces and a choker, 3 bracelets on each wrist, and 3 rings on each hand. 

“Well, thank you for helping me out. I was in a panic so I wasn't really thinking straight.” Eclipse spoke to her sister as Arcadia began to leave the room so Eclipse could change. Eclipse and Arcadia then heard a little ding and realized that Eclipse had gotten a text. Eclipse checked her phone and saw a text from Taemin. 

Taemin informed Eclipse that when he was coming over later, around noon, he would be bringing other people with him. Taemin specifically told her that the other members of SuperM were coming. He continued to explain that they had a thing that morning and when they found out about Eclipse, the other guys wanted to meet her, along with the others of Coven, which was what the girls' group was called. Immediately after reading the texts, Eclipse sat down on her bed. This worried Arcadia. 

“What's wrong?” Arcadia asked simply as she sat down next to Eclipse to look on her phone. Eclipse just handed her phone to Arcadia to allow the redhead to read the texts. “Oh... Oh, fuck...” Arcadia muttered after she read the texts. “Well don't just panic again, let Taemin know that it's alright! It is alright, right? Should we ask the other girls if it's alright?” 

“No, they'll be fine with it. Also, you're panicking.” Eclipse told Arcadia, who immediately stopped her nervous rambling. Eclipse then took her phone back and texted Taemin, letting him know that bringing the others was alright. Eclipse had a feeling that something else was going on though that Taemin didn't mention, but she wouldn't push it with him. From the other room, Arcadia's room, the two women could hear Arcadia's alarm clock going off. 

“I guess it's 9 am now. The others should be waking up soon. We'll let them know at breakfast about the changes to the day.” 

“Right.” Eclipse nodded her head as Arcadia got up from Eclipse's bed. 

“Well, I'm going to get ready for the day now. I guess I have my own outfit dilemma now. Just meeting Taemin again was alright, but now we're meeting others and I don't really think I can wear what I planned on before.” Arcadia then waved goodbye to Eclipse and headed to her room and shut off her alarm clock. 

Arcadia then took off her glasses and put in her contacts. She then finished her normal routine before heading to her closet. Arcadia was originally going to go with a simple dress, but she had already had her doubts about that. Arcadia wasn't really a dress type of woman, but she wanted to be nicely dressed for Eclipse's future man. However, now that there were going to be others there in their dorm, Arcadia was deciding to wear something else. 

“Maybe I'm thinking about this too hard...” Arcadia laughed to herself as she grabbed her usual outfit. Her outfit consisted of a blue tank top, black jeans, her normal jewelry, and possibly a black zip-up jacket if she got cold. Arcadia's normal jewelry consisted of 2 rings, one on each hand, a bracelet on her left wrist, and 2 necklaces. 

“Hey, it's nearly 10 am, are you ready? Breakfast is nearly done.” It was Nova who spoke through Arcadia's door. 

“Hmm? Oh, yeah I am ready. I'll be out in a second.” Arcadia called back through her door as she grabbed her phone before heading out to the dining area. Arcadia was the last one there. This meant that Ga-eul (their leader), Kim-Lee, Amara, Eclipse, Aurora, and Nova were already all there. Arcadia took her normal place between Eclipse and Nova. 

“So, what was so important that you had to wait for all of us to get here to tell us?” Amara questioned as she looked at Eclipse. 

“You know how Taemin is coming over in about 2 hours?” Eclipse began simply. 

“Yes, what about it?” 

“Plans changed, SuperM is coming with him. All of them.” 

“What?!” Nova gasped out, surprising Arcadia. Nova was a huge SuperM fan.

“Taemin told me a little bit ago. I figured I'd tell you all together.” Eclipse responded as she looked at the surprised lilac-haired girl.

“That's amazing! Oh no... Is what I'm wearing alright?” Nova began to fuss over her blue and white sundress. 

“You're a lesbian, why do you care what you look like? You shouldn't be interested in what they think about you.” Amara muttered in confusion. 

“Just because I'm not romantically interested in them doesn't mean I don't want to look nice for them. I want to make a good impression on them.” Nova snapped without any harshness to her tone. 

“Alright, calm down. Food is ready.” Aurora spoke up, ending the conversation. 

“Oh, food!” Nova laughed happily as Aurora set the food down on the table. The women ate their food in silence as they thought about the group that was coming to their dorm soon. 

“So... Is the dorm clean enough for the guys to come here? I mean, we don't have anything strange laying around, right?” Ga-eul asked the rest of her group as she and Kim-Lee cleaned up the dishes. 

“We'll check everything over, but for the most part we cleaned everything up last night,” Kim-Lee spoke simply from Ga-eul's side. 

“Don't worry, we'll make sure that our guests don't see any weird sides of us,” Aurora stated simply with a soft smile. The short black-haired woman seemed confident that everything would be alright. 

“It's already 11. They'll be here pretty soon.” Arcadia pointed out as she looked at her phone. 

“Taemin just texted and let me know that their 'thing' ended a little early, so they're on their way here now,” Eclipse spoke with her voice a little more quiet than usual. She was clearly nervous again. 

“Fuck!” Arcadia instantly went into panic mode, causing the other women to do the same. Suddenly everyone was scurrying around the dorm making sure that everything was put away in its correct spaces. Once everything calmed down, Amara paused in front of the full-length mirror in the hallway. 

“How do I look?” Amara questioned Arcadia who paused with her. Arcadia looked over Amara and smiled at her. Amara was wearing a random American band t-shirt with blue jeans. She didn't have shoes or socks on but she did have a simple necklace on. 

“You look like a model, like always. You could be wearing a sack and still look amazing.” Arcadia told the long and wavy dark purple-haired woman. 

“Thank you.” Amara was honestly happy to hear that. She worked hard to get to where she was then. 

“How's my hair?” Arcadia asked as she looked into the mirror. Her red hair was a little longer than her shoulders and was a bit wavy and curly at the same time. 

“Did you even brush your hair?” 

“Um... No.”

“Go brush your hair, you crazy woman! And make sure you took your meds!” 

“Yes, mom!” Arcadia laughed as she hurried to her room to brush her hair. Meanwhile, Eclipse was in her own room brushing her long straight pastel pink hair. She sighed and frowned to herself. 

“Something just isn't right...” Eclipse could feel something wrong in the air. She wondered though, was she just imagining things because she was so nervous? However, a knock at the dorm door caused her to literally throw her brush across her room. “Shit!” 

“They're here!” Ga-eul called from the couch. She was already in the process of getting up and heading to the door. “Get out here, girls!” 

Slowly, the others in the dorm made their way out of their rooms and into the living room where they could see the door to the hallway where SuperM was presumably. 

“Ready?” Arcadia asked her sister as she walked to Eclipse. 

“No.” Eclipse honestly answered. 

“Too bad.” Kim-Lee chuckled as Ga-eul opened the door, revealing Taemin standing there with the rest of SuperM behind him. Eclipse could feel her knees weaken as she and Taemin met eyes. However, as soon as he smiled at her, all her nerves faded away. It was complete peace she felt. 

“Hello, come on in,” Ga-eul spoke to the group as she opened the door wide for them to enter. 

“Thank you.” Taemin smiled at the girls' leader. The guys made their way into the dorm, taking off their shoes as they did so. Taemin instantly made his way to Eclipse. “Hey.” Taemin simply spoke to the now calm woman. 

“Hey,” Eclipse responded with a smile. 

“Seriously. You two don't see each other in months and the only thing you can say to each other is 'Hey'?” Arcadia asked, causing Nova to chuckle. 

“I know that Taemin was pretty nervous, so his brain probably short-circuited.” Kai chuckled as he spoke. 

“Eclipse was pretty nervous too.” 

“Oh, hush. They haven't seen each other in so long, of course they'll be nervous.” Nova smiled at Eclipse and Taemin. She clearly was defending them. 

“Anywho...” Ga-eul spoke, causing everyone to look at her. “Can we get you guys anything to drink or snack on?” 

“I think we're good for now, but maybe later,” Baekhyun responded simply with a polite smile. 

“Feel like you're at home. Don't worry about being too polite. We're all friends here.” Nova smiled at the guys. 

“Alright, thank you.” Kai returned her smile. 

“Now, now. Don't fall for her. She's not into guys.” Amara commented as she wrapped an arm around Nova. 

“Oh stop it, you don't need to tell everyone we meet,” Nova grumbled as she shook off Amara's arm. 

“I just want it out there now before they think something of you and then start treating you differently because they found out later.” 

“...Alright then...” Nova pouted causing Arcadia to laugh at her. 

“Nova, stop that. You're not a child.” Arcadia said to the youngest member of the girls' group. 

“Hey, where did Taemin and Eclipse go?” Kim-Lee asked as she looked around the living room.

“They went to Eclipse's room,” Aurora responded simply. 

“Hey! You better not be doing anything bad in there!” Amara yelled out to them. 

“Stop it. Let them be. They deserve to be alone with each other. Besides, you know Eclipse wouldn't do anything with anyone. Especially when others are around.” Arcadia defended her sister immediately.

“Taemin didn't really tell us much about how he and Eclipse met. Can you fill us in?” Kai asked Arcadia since he felt like she'd know the story better than the others. 

“Oh, um... Sure. Let's sit down. It's a long story.” With that everyone sat down. Taeyong, Arcadia, Amara, and Mark on the couch next to the hallway to the entrance door. Kai, Nova, Aurora, and Lucas on the couch next to the hallway leading to the bedroom doors. Baekhyun, Ga-eul, Ten, and Kim-Lee sat on the couch between the other two couches facing the TV. 

“So, how long is this story?” Ten asked once everyone was situated. 

“Well, there's a lot to tell about their meeting and everything involving it.” 

“Hmm? What do you mean?”

“Well, you all might not believe everything that I have to say, but just listen until the end. It all started when Eclipse saw one of Taemin's music videos, Move. She saw something in his eyes that made her realize that she knew him somehow. It was the song Back To You that made her realize that she and Taemin were romantically together in a past life.” Arcadia could see the doubt on the faces of some of the people around her, but she ignored it and continued. “Eclipse is a witch, so she's in-tune with these things. Anyway, when we were in Japan, we went to an event with Taemin there where Eclipse and Taemin met for the first time. As soon as Taemin met eyes with Eclipse, he realized everything that Eclipse had already known. He instantly approached her, ignoring the words of everyone around him. He gave her his phone number right there and planned to meet up with her after the event. She panicked big time over this. I mean I did too though.” 

“Just like that? It was that easy?” Mark asked, not truly believing in everything Arcadia had just said to them.

“Yup. Taemin can confirm things. He knew her instantly. There isn't a doubt in either of their minds that they are meant for each other. They are both super happy to have found each other. Especially Eclipse, since she's gone her whole life without a relationship. She's been waiting for the right one and she found it in Taemin.” 

“I don't mean to be a downer, but can things really be this simple for them?” Aurora questioned as she looked at Arcadia. She fully believed in the story, but she didn't believe in how simply it'd been for them so far.

“I'm sure they'll face a lot of problems. I mean, they aren't even dating yet. They are taking this slowly. Especially considering this is their first meeting since Japan.” 

“Speaking of them, they've been awfully quiet. What are they up to?” Nova asked as she turned to look down the hallway to the bedrooms. 

“I'll go check on them,” Kim-Lee spoke as she stood up. She walked to Eclipse's bedroom door, knocked for a moment, but got no response so she opened the door. There in Eclipse's bed laid Taemin and Eclipse. Their arms were intertwined and they were resting their foreheads against each other. They were sleeping quite peacefully. “Oh...”

“What's wrong?” Arcadia asked, worrying instantly. 

“They are sleeping.” 

“Well... That makes sense. Eclipse didn't sleep last night.” 

“Taemin has been so busy that he's not been sleeping well recently.” Taeyong pointed out to the group. 

“Let them sleep. They clearly need it.” Arcadia smiled as she spoke. Kim-Lee nodded her head and closed the door, before heading back to her seat. 

“Well, while they sleep, there is something that we need to talk about.” Baekhyun suddenly spoke up. 

“Hmm? What do you mean?” Amara asked the man. 

“Ga-eul, you haven't told them, right?” 

“No, I haven't,” Ga-eul responded with a nod of her head. Baekhyun nodded his head with a smile on his face. 

“Tell us what?” 

“SuperM and Coven are going to be going on a trip together,” Baekhyun stated, causing the girls, minus Ga-eul, to react with surprise. 

“What do you mean?” Kim-Lee asked as she turned to her leader. 

“Due to Eclipse and Taemin's connection, they want us to all go on a vacation type deal with each other. We're going to the beach to spend a week there. I'm not too sure of the details yet though.” Ga-eul explained to her girls. 

“I have the details. They told me to let you all know about everything.” Baekhyun spoke up as he pulled out a folder from his bag that he had with him. He handed the folder to Ga-eul and watched as the woman read through the papers. 

“So, we're all staying in one big oceanfront house? This says that we get to decide our rooms and that there are more than enough rooms for everyone to have their own room.”

“Wait, seriously? We're going to be staying in the same house as guys?” Nova seemed a little disgusted by that fact. 

“Are there going to be any cameras there? Do we constantly have to worry about what we're doing and who will see it?” Amara asked as she seemed a little worried about the situation. 

“There will be cameras, but not all the time. It says that for the most part, we have to do our own vlogs and whatnot.” Ga-eul explained simply to the worried girl. “And yes, we'll be in the same house as the guys. Don't worry about it, Nova. Everything will be fine.” 

“Does it say anything about me hiding my tattoo from the cameras? I know that they aren't exactly happy for me to show it just yet.” Arcadia brought up as she looked to her leader. Ga-eul went through the papers and shook her head. 

“It doesn't say anything, but I'm sure they don't want you to show your tattoo. You know how they reacted with seeing it on you.” Ga-eul made a good point. The higher-up guys didn't like seeing Arcadia with a tattoo and pretty much ordered her to never show the tattoo to them again. 

“Great...” Arcadia sighed as she leaned back against the couch. 

“You have a tattoo?” Taeyong questioned as he turned to look at the redhead. Arcadia simply lifted her left arm to show the inside of her lower arm where there was a very obvious and beautiful black and blue butterfly tattooed  
there. 

“It's the only one I have so far, but I wanted to get more,” Arcadia explained simply as she smiled at her butterfly on her lower arm. 

“They were annoyed with Arcadia's and my piercings as well,” Nova commented with a frown. She'd experienced the same thing with the piercings. She and Arcadia both had their noses and tongues pierced, only for them to have to take them out when they got to Korea. 

“Yeah, I wasn't too happy with taking out my piercings, nor am I happy about them covering my tattoo up.” Arcadia nodded her head as she frowned. 

“They don't like me showing all my tattoos as well.” Ten understood Arcadia's annoyance at hiding tattoos. 

“So, when exactly are we going on this trip?” Aurora asked her leader, bringing the topic back to what it was. 

“It actually doesn't say,” Ga-eul responded before looking to Baekhyun. “When are we going?” 

“They said if you all agreed with the trip, it would be as soon as possible. Meaning, this week sometime is when we'll leave.” Baekhyun spoke, surprising the women. 

“Great. Now I have to panic pack for a week-long trip.” Arcadia grumbled as she folded her arms as she pouted. 

“Uh, Arc? You know you literally only wear shorts or pants and tank tops, right? How hard is it to pack when that's all you own?” Nova brought up, causing Arcadia to pause and look annoyed at her. 

“I have other clothes... Just... You know, not many other clothes...” Hearing this, everyone in the room chuckled at the situation. 

“So, do you think that Taemin told Eclipse about the trip, or do we have to go over this again when they wake up?” Kim-Lee asked simply. 

“I'll tell her after she wakes up.” 

“We're awake now, what's going on?” Everyone in the room turned to see Eclipse and Taemin standing there in the hallway leading to the bedrooms. 

“Oh, good timing.” Ga-eul then went into explaining the trip and that they would be leaving soon for it. 

“The beach? That's awesome. I've been wanting to get to the beach to find more shells.” Eclipse responded with a smile. She had a huge collection of shells back in America but left them all when she moved to Japan. She had been planning on starting a new collection. 

“How was your nap?” Amara questioned with a suggestive tone to her voice. 

“It was just fine. It was nice to just spend time with someone without any pressure.” 

“That's no fun.” 

“Amara be nice.” Arcadia snapped to her friend. 

“Oh hush, I was only teasing her.” Amara snapped back with a smirk. The two girls laughed, bringing a smile to everyone else's faces. It was nice for all of them to get to be themselves with each other. Arcadia especially hoped that it would remain like this. She always did want to befriend more people. She just never was sure how to go about that.


	3. Chapter 2

After the laughter subsided, a thought came to Kim-Lee's head. 

“Well, since we're all awake now, let's do something fun,” Kim-Lee spoke up, breaking the now silence that fell upon the room. 

“Like what?” Lucas questioned in confusion. 

“Let's play Truth or Dare!” Nova suggested but was instantly shot down by Arcadia and Eclipse. 

“No!” Both sisters snapped.

“You two are no fun...” Nova pouted as she leaned back in her seat. 

“Now, now. Nova, you know that Eclipse doesn't like the game and you know Arcadia is too shy to do any dares. She'd only pick truth and you like to make her say things she doesn't like saying. So then she gets upset, which upsets Eclipse.” Amara knew all too well how Truth or Dare usually goes with Nova involved. 

“How about we do this a fair way then? Write some truths and write some dares on paper, put them in separate containers and then let each of us pick one. That way no one is called out on anything specific that would upset them. This should be so we can get to know each other better.” Baekhyun's words caused Eclipse and Arcadia to look at each other, only for them to nod their heads. 

“Alright. As long as you don't mind me only picking truth.” Arcadia agreed causing Nova to happily sit up again. 

“Yay!” Nova cheered as she wiggled in her seat. 

“Hard to believe she isn't the youngest here...” 

“She isn't? Is she older than me?” Mark was shook. 

“She was born July 13th of 1999. You were born in August of that year, right?” Arcadia looked to the man next to her as he nodded his head. “So then yes, she is older than you. You are the youngest here.” 

“Aw, man! I was hoping to not be the youngest!” Mark fake pouted, causing most everyone in the room to chuckle at him. 

“Too bad! I'm finally happy to not be the youngest of a group. I now have someone to pick on!” Nova was instantly shut down by Arcadia glaring at her. 

“No picking on anyone.” Arcadia instantly spoke causing Nova to pout once more. 

“So, um... Anyway, let's get some paper and write some truths and dares. Everyone should write one of each.” Eclipse spoke up before she headed to her bedroom and got a bunch of blank paper. She and Taemin worked on ripping the paper in half before distributing the paper and pens among the big group of people. “Remember, we're getting to know each other, not upset each other.” 

“Yes, mom!” Nova grumbled as she took a paper and pen from Eclipse. Eclipse patted Nova on the head and went to her seat. Taemin had brought two chairs from the dining room for himself and Eclipse to sit on. 

So, with that, everyone fell silent as they thought up their truth and dare ideas. After a few minutes, everyone had their papers written on and they were folded and put into 2 empty vases. 

“I'll start!” Nova happily called out. 

“Okay, truth or dare?” Baekhyun asked as he held up the truth vase. Ga-eul had the dare vase and she held it up as well. 

“Hmm... Dare!” Nova was clearly trying to show that she was fearless. Even though, deep down inside she was very worried about the situation. She didn't want to do anything too weird or have to admit anything strange in front of the guys. 

“Alright, here.” Ga-eul handed the vase to Nova. The lilac-haired girl closed her eyes and reached into the vase. She moved her hand around and then pulled out a slip of paper. She handed the vase back to Ga-eul and then opened up her slip of paper. 

“This is in Japanese. Arcadia, what the hell?” 

“I still have a hard time with writing in Korean, alright?!” Arcadia's face went completely red as she snapped at her friend. “I wrote my truth in English though...” 

“Dude...” Nova shook her head and read the dare out loud. “This says 'Sing a part of your favorite song'... My favorite song... Oh gosh, what would that be...” Nova thought for a moment, causing Arcadia to get annoyed. 

“You damn well know that your favorite song is In The End by Linkin Park!” Arcadia snapped at the lilac-haired girl, causing her to pause.

“Oh, right. How'd you know that?” 

“Are you kidding me?” Arcadia looked about ready to strangle Nova at that moment in time. Of course, Arcadia knew that, Nova and her listen to that song just about every day of their lives, multiple times, and always sing along with it. 

“Anyway... I will sing my favorite part now... ~'I've put my trust in you. Pushed as far as I can go. For all this, there's only one thing you should know. I've put my trust in you. Pushed as far as I can go. For all this, there's only one thing you should know'~.” With that, Nova sighed and looked down, trying to hide her red face. She didn't really like singing randomly in front of people she didn't know all that well. 

“You did good, Nova,” Eclipse spoke up, bringing a smile to Nova's face. 

“Thanks... Anyway, who goes next?” Nova looked back up at the group. She quickly recovered from her embarrassment. 

“I'll go,” Eclipse responded. “I pick truth.” Eclipse was handed the truth vase, she picked a paper and then handed the vase back. “It says 'Who is your favorite of SuperM'? Oh, that's easy. Taemin.” Hearing this caused everyone in the room to laugh. 

“Yeah, that was an easy one for you,” Aurora commented simply as she smiled at Eclipse. Eclipse shrugged her shoulders and looked at Taemin, who was smiling at her. 

“I'll go next,” Baekhyun spoke up. “I pick dare.” He then grabbed a slip of paper and read it out loud. “It says 'Dance your favorite dance'.” Baekhyun looked around the crowded room. “That'll be a little hard.” 

“Just dance and try to not hit anything.” Nova laughed as Baekhyun stood up and walked into the center of the couches, in front of the TV. He did his little dance without much movement, as to not hit the TV or someone as he danced. “That was you wiggling in place, but alright...” Hearing this from Nova, Baekhyun burst into laughter. 

“I didn't want to break anything or anyone!” Baekhyun cried out through his laughter. 

“Fine, fine. Just sit back down.” 

“Nova, stop being mean,” Arcadia muttered as she shook her head. 

“I'll stop being mean if you go next.”

“Fine! Give me the truth vase!” Arcadia snapped annoyed with her friend. Arcadia was handed the truth vase and she grabbed one of the top slips of paper. “It says 'Who is your favorite K-pop Idol'?”

“That's too easy for you! Put it back!” Nova laughed as she yelled at Arcadia. 

“No! I get to keep the easy one just like Eclipse did! My favorite is T.O.P from BigBang, of course.” 

“Really? Not one of us?” Baekhyun faked a hurt look. 

“Sorry, BigBang will always be number one in my heart,” Arcadia responded simply. 

“That's so mean! It should be one of your group members!” Amara called instantly. The two girls, seated next to each other glared at one another. 

“Uh, I'll go next,” Mark spoke up, ending any conflict that was about to come out of the conversation. “I pick truth.” Mark was handed the truth vase and picked one from the bottom. “This says 'Who is your least favorite of Coven'? Aw man, that's not a nice one.” 

“Who wrote that?” Eclipse asked the group. Nova raised her hand.

“Dude, what the hell? That's a surefire way to get someone upset.” Arcadia snapped from her spot next to Mark. 

“Just let him answer,” Nova spoke as she looked to Mark. He seemed really nervous about this. 

“Well, I don't know everyone that well, but right now I have to say Nova is my least favorite.” Mark honestly answered which caused Nova to gasp out loud. 

“Rude!” 

“You're the rude one!” Kim-Lee spoke up causing Nova to fall silent. 

“I'll go next and pick dare!” Lucas spoke up, cutting off the conflict. Lucas was handed the dare vase and picked one from the middle. “It says 'I dare you to hold your breath for as long as you can, preferably without passing out'. I got this.” Everyone then watched as Lucas held his breath, and held it and held it. Lucas' face got more and more red as the seconds passed by. 

“You're going to die, please breathe.” At Aurora's request, Lucas took in a deep breath as he slowly returned to his normal color. 

“That was awesome!” Nova cried out as she happily laughed. 

“Thanks.” Lucas chuckled once he was able to breathe normally and speak again. 

“I'll go next. I pick truth.” Taeyong declared as he ignored the laughter from the younger members. He was given the vase of truth papers and picked one. He opened it up only to see the words in English. “English?” 

“You got Arcadia's truth!” Nova gasped out in surprise. “What does it say?” 

“It says 'If you were stranded on a deserted island, what would you want to have with you the most?'” Taeyong read slowly to make sure he was understanding the handwriting of Arcadia. It wasn't the best handwriting but Taeyong managed. 

“Oh, that's a hard one,” Taemin commented once Taeyong was done reading the truth. 

“Hmm... I'd have to say some tools to be able to survive.” Taeyong's words surprised the group, but it really did make sense. 

“I want to go next,” Ga-eul stated before continuing. “I choose dare.” Ga-eul grabbed a dare and then read it out loud. “It says 'Drink the rest of Arcadia's tequila'.” 

“Yo! Which one of you bitches wrote that?!” Arcadia was clearly horrified at this dare.

“Me.” Amara laughed as she held up her hand. From her place next to Amara, Arcadia gasped out in anger.

“I'm gonna strangle you,” Arcadia growled as she moved towards the purple-haired woman but was stopped by Ga-eul standing up. “Wait, no!”

“It's a dare, I'm not backing down from it,” Ga-eul stated simply as she walked to the refrigerator. 

“But my tequila!” 

“I'll buy you more tequila, calm down.” Ga-eul then brought the half-full bottle of tequila.

“You're going to get sick... Well, maybe not...” Nova commented as Ga-eul popped open the bottle. Ga-eul ignored the girl and sat back down in her seat. She then began to drink the liquid. She drank and drank until it was all gone. 

“Um... Is that normal for her?” Kai asked as he looked at Nova. Nova nodded her head instantly. 

“She's a good drinker. She can drink fast and hold her alcohol.” Nova explained with a confident smile on her face. 

“That's terrifying,” Lucas stated simply as he and Kai shared a worried look. Ga-eul chuckled and put the tequila bottle down. 

“Who's next?” Ga-eul questioned simply as she looked around the group. 

“I'll choose next.” Ten spoke up next. “I'll go with dare.” Ten then was given the dare vase and picked one. He read it and chuckled. “It says 'Dance a silly dance'. Aw, I was hoping for something more exciting.” Ten grumbled, but he stood up regardless. He then moved to the middle of the room and began to wiggle his arms and legs for a few moments. It was similar to Baekhyun's dance. Everyone chuckled at Ten's little weird dance. 

“I'll go next. I want to pick truth.” Amara stated once Ten was seated. Amara was handed the truth vase and she mixed them all up before she chose her paper. “Oh, man... I don't like this...”

“What does it say?” Arcadia leaned over Amara's shoulder to read the paper. 

“It tells me to 'Admit who you have a crush on.” 

“What's so wrong about that?” Nova asked in confusion. 

“Well, it's more of because who I have a crush on... You know that cashier that flirted with me the other day?” Amara looked to Eclipse, who nodded her head in response. As soon as the words left Amara's mouth, Nova gasped. 

“Whoa! It's that guy!” Nova began to laugh, causing Aurora to reach over and smack Nova on the shoulder. 

“See, that's why I didn't want to say anything!” Amara's face went completely red as she began to pout. 

“It's alright, Amara. He's a super cute and nice guy, don't feel bad about having a crush on him.” Arcadia patted her friend on the back, causing Amara to thank her. 

“Can I go next?” Kai asked after everything calmed down. 

“Sure, only if you pick dare though,” Baekhyun responded with a chuckle. 

“I was going to anyway!” Kai laughed as he took the dare vase and picked one. “It tells me to 'Kiss the person next to you'. Lucas, come here!” 

“Huh? Why me?” Lucas responded as he turned to Kai. Technically, Nova was next to Kai with him being on the edge of the couch. 

“I'm not going to kiss someone I just met!” 

“Good point.” Lucas chucked but quickly let out a yelp when Kai reached over Nova. Nova leaned back as Lucas was pulled towards Kai before Kai gave Lucas a kiss on the cheek. 

“There, all done!” Kai laughed as Lucas wiped at his face to get Kai's lip residue off of him. 

“Okay then... I'll go next and choose truth,” Aurora spoke, ignoring the laughter that broke out due to the kiss. Aurora was given the vase with the truths. She quickly picked one and read it out loud. “'Which one of your group members do you get along with the least?'”

“Oh, this one is easy too!” Nova grumbled as Arcadia frowned. 

“Arcadia,” Aurora responded immediately as she ignored Nova's words and Arcadia's face. 

“Anyway...” Ga-eul spoke as she looked to Kim-Lee. “What do you choose?” 

“Truth,” Kim-Lee responded as she took a slip of truth paper. “'Who do you love most in this world?' is what this says.” Kim-Lee thought about it for a moment before responding. “People are shit, so I'm gonna go with the animals that I have.” 

“You have animals here?” Ten questioned instantly. 

“Well not yet. We aren't allowed to. I was meaning my animals back home.” Kim-Lee responded simply. Ten internally pouted hearing this. He'd hoped that someone had some animals in the dorm. 

“So, who is left?” Ga-eul questioned as she looked around the room. 

“Me, and I'll go with dare,” Taemin spoke up with a confident smile on his face. Taemin was handed the dare vase and he thought for a moment before picking one from the middle of what was left in the vase. As soon as Taemin read the paper, he paused. 

“Well?” Eclipse asked from Taemin's side. She tried to see what was said, but she couldn't see anything due to the angle that Taemin had the paper. 

“It tells me to kiss someone in the room.” 

“Oh...” Eclipse was a little thrown off by that. 

“Who do you want to kiss, Taemin?” Kai asked his friend teasingly, which caused Taemin to blush ever so slightly. 

“Honestly? Eclipse, of course.” Taemin responded causing Eclipse to start to blush a bit. 

“I'm alright with that.” Eclipse confidently spoke to Taemin. He looked at her and nodded his head. 

“I feel like we shouldn't be watching this. It's private.” Arcadia spoke up as Taemin and Eclipse began to get closer and closer together. It seemed that everyone else agreed with Arcadia's comment as they all looked away just as Eclipse and Taemin's lips were brought together. Their lips remained connected for a few moments before both of them pulled away. Taemin was instantly shocked to see tears falling from Eclipse's eyes. 

“Are you alright?” Taemin's worried question caused everyone to look back at the two. 

“I'm sorry. It's just... I feel like I've been waiting my whole life for that kiss.” Eclipse honestly responded as she wiped away her tears. 

“Do you want to go and talk about it?” Taemin asked, prompting Eclipse to nod her head in agreement. The two then stood up and went back into Eclipse's room. 

“Is your sister going to be alright?” Nova asked as she looked at Arcadia. 

“She'll be alright. I know it.” Arcadia responded with a soft but sad smile on her face. “She's just waited so long to find her true love, it's probably hard for her to fully believe that this is happening. Plus it's probably overwhelming.” 

“It'd be nice to find my true love,” Nova muttered as she laid back against the couch.   
“I know, hopefully, we all can find that someone. Then again, you've given up on it, on love, haven't you, Arcadia? After your many failed relationships.” Amara snickered as she spoke. Arcadia just looked at her and glared at her. 

“Be quiet. That isn't your business or anyone else's.” Arcadia was holding back her rage. She wasn't thrilled at all that Amara brought that up. She honestly wanted to strangle the woman next to her. 

“Amara, you're being rude,” Ga-eul stated as she looked at the two girls who were now glaring at each other. Arcadia then sighed and stood up.

“You going to go pout about it?” Amara questioned, prompting Arcadia to shove her backward against the couch. 

“I'm getting a drink,” Arcadia responded as she walked to the little kitchen next to the living room. 

“Alcohol so early?” 

“You idiot. My tequila was drank; I'm getting water.” Arcadia grabbed a bottle of water and leaned against the counter with her back facing the group. 

“She's pouting,” Amara stated, causing Arcadia's rage to return. 

“I'm going to stab you.” Arcadia snapped as she turned around and set down her water. Arcadia pulled out a knife from her back pocket and opened it up. It was a butterfly knife, but with multicolored metal. 

“Whoa...” Baekhyun muttered in slight horror. 

“You have a fucking knife?!” Amara gasped out, horrified. 

“Have you not seen my obsession with sharp objects?! Of course, I have a fucking knife!” Arcadia snapped at the purple-haired woman.

“Is this normal?” Kai asked, turning to look at Nova. Kai was clearly concerned now.

“The arguing, yes. The knife, no.” Nova responded simply. 

“Arcadia, put the knife away. Amara, stop being mean and bringing up things that no one wants to talk about.” Ga-eul spoke finally. Instantly Amara and Arcadia froze. However, neither girl moved. “Now.” 

“I can't stab her?” Arcadia questioned as she slowly put her knife back away. 

“It'd make a mess, do you want to clean that?” 

“Fuck no.” 

“Why do I have to stop being mean? It's amusing.” Amara smiled as Arcadia made her way back to her seat. 

“Um, because I'm literally going to hurt you if you bring up my past again.” 

“You wouldn't dare hurt me. We're best friends!” 

“Since when?” Arcadia's words caused Amara to gasp out in shock. 

“Rude!” Amara snapped causing Nova to laugh out loud. 

“I'm her best friend. Not you.” Nova spoke as she laughed. Amara and Nova began to bicker back and forth for a few moments, with everyone else silently watching them. 

“Both of you be quiet,” Ga-eul said her words in a low tone, but a powerful one causing both Nova and Amara to stop talking instantly.

“Is everyone done fighting now?” Everyone turned to see Eclipse and Taemin standing there. It was Eclipse who'd spoken. “Also, I'm Arcadia's best friend.” 

“Your sister tried to stab me!” Amara cried out as she completely ignored what Eclipse had said.

“If I wanted to stab you, you'd be stabbed.” Arcadia instantly snapped at Amara. 

“Both of you. Enough.” Ga-eul's voice was less friendly than it had been before and it was also louder. Instantly Amara crossed her arms and pouted. 

“Fine, but she started it,” Amara grumbled, causing Arcadia to look at her and glare.

“It's very lively around here,” Baekhyun commented after a moment of silence. 

“It's like I'm dealing with children,” Ga-eul muttered as she sighed to herself. 

“We aren't that bad,” Nova mumbled simply. Ga-eul just looked at Nova questioningly. “Okay, maybe we are...” 

“You must understand my pain, right?” Ga-eul looked at Baekhyun but he just shook his head. 

“Taeyong would know how it feels dealing with children better than I would,” Baekhyun responded causing everyone to turn to look at Taeyong. 

“Oh, right. You're NCT's leader.” Amara stated simply. “It must be nice being a leader of a group.” 

“It seems like it'd be hard. Ga-eul is always stressed out. I wouldn't want to be a leader of a group.” Nova responded as she frowned. 

“Is she always stressed out? I thought that was just her face.” 

“Yo! That's the rude shit you need to stop!” Arcadia snapped at the woman next to her. Ga-eul just narrowed her eyes at Amara. 

“You need to watch your mouth!” Amara snapped back. 

“Is arguing  
with someone who has a knife such a good idea?” Aurora commented the thought that most everyone had been thinking about. 

“I wouldn't stab her with witnesses,” Arcadia said that like it was the most normal sentence in the world. 

“Should I fear for my life? I mean, seriously? Should I lock my door tonight?” Amara was quite good at pretending to be scared. 

“Stop it. Arc isn't going to hurt you. You'll be fine.” Nova snapped, causing the end of that conversation. Arcadia sighed and leaned back against the couch. Amara pouted and playfully bumped Arcadia. 

“You aren't mad at me, right?” 

“Being mad is like my default setting, so I'm not sure,” Arcadia responded, causing Nova and Eclipse to chuckle.

“You right. What a sad, well mad little life you live.”Kim-Lee responded with a chuckle. 

“Rude!” Arcadia cried out, clearly offended. 

“Are you even capable of being happy?” Aurora spoke up next. 

“Is this 'Attack Arcadia' time? If so, it can stop right now.” Arcadia grumbled as she pouted to herself. Her words caused mostly everyone in the room to laugh. 

“It's a very viable question, you know. You're not exactly good at being happy.” Nova mentioned, causing Arcadia to glare at her. 

“Now, now. Let's get onto a different topic before Arcadia gets upset with us.” Aurora spoke, causing Arcadia to look at her next and glare.

“I think I'm already upset.” Arcadia's words were ignored. 

“You all act so close together. It's like you're sisters.” Kai commented as he looked at Nova. She instantly nodded her head. 

“While Eclipse and Arcadia are the only birth-related sisters, we all treat each other as if we were sisters. It's better that way. We fight and make up all the time.” Nova smiled at Kai as she spoke. “I say all the time, but we've only been a complete group for a week or so.” 

“Who joined last?” Lucas asked, bringing himself into the conversation. 

“Well, the original group was Eclipse, Arcadia, Amara, and myself. We were a group in Japan. Once Eclipse decided she was moving to Korea to be with Taemin, we all decided to go with her. When we joined SM we were put in a group with Ga-eul, Kim-Lee, and Aurora. We all joined Coven at the same time, to be honest. Coven only began when we 7 got together.”

“I see.” Kai and Lucas both nodded their heads in understanding. 

“It's nice to have people around me that fully accept me for who I am. That's the most important part of us being sisters. We might fight, but deep down we love each other and would do anything for one another.” Nova smiled as she spoke. 

“I can understand that. It's hard when you're around people who don't accept you and make rude remarks towards you.” Kai responded as he nodded his head. 

“Being a lesbian in countries that don't really accept such things makes it even worse. A lot of people who know originally looked at me differently. I mean, the others know how it feels too since all of us are different, but I think Arcadia and I faced the worst of it.” 

“Why Arcadia?” Lucas questioned as he looked over to the redhead. Arcadia was laughing with Taeyong, Amara, and Mark. She seemed normal enough to Lucas and Kai. 

“Oh, I'm not really supposed to say, but you can ask her if you want to. I shouldn't tell her personal business.” 

“That's understandable.” Lucas simply stated as he nodded his head. He wanted to ask Arcadia what Nova meant, but he chose not to right then. She was too deep into the conversation with her couch-mates. 

“She seems normal enough, right? She's just really good at hiding things from others.” 

“She's also really good at lying right to your face,” Aurora stated, causing Lucas and Kai to turn to look at her. 

“Aurora! Arc only lies when it's necessary. Like everyone else does.” Nova defended her friend instantly. 

“Hmm, sure...” The short black-haired woman clearly had a problem with the redhead. 

“I still don't understand your problem with Arcadia,” Nova grumbled as she looked at Arcadia. Aurora said nothing, but instead stood up and headed to the kitchen to get herself a drink. Eclipse ended up following her, deciding to get herself and Taemin a drink. 

“So, how's everything going between you and Taemin?” Aurora asked Eclipse in a lower tone so that no one else heard her speak. 

“Pretty good actually. I was nervous at first, but as soon as our eyes met, it felt like everything fell into place and that everything was going to be alright.” Eclipse responded as she grabbed water for herself and Taemin. 

“You aren't normally this... emotional or sappy of a person, everything alright?” 

“It's weird, but yes, I'm alright. I'm sure I'll be my normal self again soon. It's just a big change now that Taemin and I are together.” 

“Are you and him dating?” 

“Not yet. We're deciding to take things slowly as to not upset anyone.” 

“I see...” With that, Aurora grabbed a water bottle and went back to her seat. Eclipse just watched as her friend returned and joined in the conversation that Nova, Kai, and Lucas were having. Eclipse then turned her attention to her sister. She was currently listening to Amara talking to the others on the couch with her. Arcadia laughed after Amara was done and then turned to look at Taeyong who began to speak as well. 

“I'm glad to see her getting along with people...” Eclipse muttered to herself before returning to Taemin. 

“We should probably be going soon,” Taemin spoke to Eclipse once she sat down. Instantly Eclipse felt a weight fall right onto her chest. She nearly dropped the two water bottles she held. 

“Oh...”

“I want to keep seeing you whenever I can though.” Taemin smiled softly as he spoke, trying to make Eclipse feel better.

“I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other during the week we're at the beach,” Eclipse spoke as she returned his smile. 

“True. It'll be nice to get away and be with more friends... And of course, be with you more.” 

“I'm really looking forward to this trip. I mean, I've been to the beach a few times, but never in this country... Hey, do you know what beach we're going to?” Eclipse finished her sentence by turning to look at Ga-eul. 

“It's a private island,” Ga-eul responded simply. 

“How are we getting there?” 

“First we'll take a bus to the airport and then we'll get onto a private plane and then we'll take a boat to the island,” Baekhyun responded when Ga-eul looked to him for answers. 

“Plane?!” Arcadia gasped out at the same time Eclipse gasped out, “Boat?!” 

“Is that a problem?” Baekhyun asked turning to look at Arcadia and then Eclipse. 

“Arcadia is terrified of flying and Eclipse is terrified of sunken ships,” Nova explained simply. 

“I'm terrified of a lot of things. Flying is just one of those things.” Arcadia seemed to be quite proud of herself for having many fears. Before anyone could say anything about that, Taemin's phone went off. 

“We have to go now...” Taemin spoke lowly with a hint of sadness. 

“Don't worry. In just a few days we'll all be off on an adventure.” Nova smiled at Eclipse and Taemin, who both were frowning now. 

“True.” Eclipse nodded her head as Taemin nodded his head. With that, the guys stood up and began to say their goodbyes to the women around them.

“It was nice meeting and talking with you two,” Taeyong spoke to Arcadia and Amara. 

“Yeah, you two are pretty cool,” Mark said after Taeyong. 

“You two are really awesome. I can't wait for our trip together.” Amara happily responded to the two guys. 

“It was really great chatting with you two,” Arcadia spoke last before she turned to look at the others in the room.

“I hope we can keep getting along,” Ga-eul said to Baekhyun who nodded his head in return. 

“I hope the same,” Baekhyun responded simply. 

“It was nice meeting you, Ten,” Kim-Lee spoke to the man next to her. 

“Likewise.” Ten simply spoke in response. 

“Your group is pretty lively. I hope you'll all stay just as interesting on our trip together.” Kai said to Nova, who just laughed in response. 

“Yeah, you girls are pretty entertaining,” Lucas added causing Nova to chuckle again.

“We don't mean to be entertaining or interesting. It just happens but thank you.” Nova responded with a smile on her face.

“I hope next time Arcadia doesn't threaten to stab someone,” Aurora muttered mostly to herself. “I also hope that Eclipse won't complain too much about missing Taemin before our trip... or after our trip...” 

“I'm sure they'll be just fine,” Nova responded as the little group turned to look at Eclipse and Taemin. The two of them were just staring at each other, holding hands, clearly upset. 

“It was great seeing you again, Taemin. I had fun, even though for half of our time, we slept.” Eclipse spoke with a chuckle causing Taemin to chuckle as well. 

“Taking a nap with you was just as great as spending time with you while we were awake,” Taemin responded with a smile. 

“I guess... See you when we go off on our trip?” 

“Yeah. See you then.” With that, Taemin and Eclipse hugged each other for a minute before separating. 

“See you all later!” Nova happily called out to the guys as they put their shoes back on and left the dorm. They waved goodbye, and with that, the girls were left all alone with each other once again.


	4. Chapter 3

A couple of days later, everyone was packing for their trip. This was causing a little chaos in the dorm of Coven. All of them wanted to take multiple bags despite being told that they were only allowed two bags. No exceptions. 

Specifically, Arcadia and Eclipse were having a tough time. Eclipse likes to sleep with a lot of stuffed animals and a wrapped-up set of animals surrounded by her baby blanket. All of that would take up her two bag allowance. Arcadia also had a set of stuffed animals that she slept with, along with her two silk shirts that were given to her by her mother. However, she could fit the silk shirts in her purse like usual, but it was the stuffed animals giving her trouble. There was a huge, nearly life-sided green cryptid stuffed animal that Arcadia wanted to bring with her. 

“Come on, you're adults, right? Do you really need all those stuffed animals? Can't, you leave some behind?” It was Ga-eul trying to talk some sense into the two sisters. They were eating dinner the night before they were set to leave. They were mostly talking rather than eating though. 

“I can't sleep without them. I've always had them and I can't go without them.” Eclipse responded to her leader with an annoyed tone in her voice. 

“I can't sleep without Steve. The others I can leave behind but I can't go without him.” Arcadia informed her leader. 

“'Steve'?” Kim-Lee questioned, confused on who the redhead was talking about.

“My green cryptid,” Arcadia said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

“Yo, just carry Steve with you and use your two bag limit for the fuck-ton of clothes you're bringing.” Nova's words caused Arcadia to pause. 

“Can I really just carry around a huge-ass monster?” 

“Oh my gods, yes!” Amara was annoyed with the situation as well. “Everyone will judge you, but just carry him with you. Just keep him with you and everything will be alright. As for you Eclipse... Just bring your 'bundle of joy' and that's it. Use one bag for it and another for all your clothes, bring your big-ass suitcase. They never said how big our bags could be.”

“That is true. Just don't piss anyone off though. Don't make that bag weigh too much.” Ga-eul responded to Amara's comments. Eclipse frowned but nodded her head. She knew Amara made a good point. 

“Fine. I'll leave the stuffed animals that won't fit with my 'bundle of joy', but I'm not happy about it.” Eclipse spoke as she returned to her food. With that, everyone went back to eating and this time it was in silence. 

“So, who is excited about this trip?” Nova asked the group as they were cleaning up dinner. 

“I'm not excited that we're leaving early in the morning,” Eclipse responded simply.

“When exactly are we supposed to be picked up?” Kim-Lee questioned as she paused in washing a dish, 

“7 am. That's when the two van-buses will arrive. The guys will already be in their seats and we'll just join them.” Ga-eul informed the group, who all just nodded their heads in return, 

“I wonder who we'll be seated with...” Nova muttered to herself. 

“We all know that Eclipse and Taemin will be together,” Aurora spoke as she looked to her friend. Eclipse nodded her head in response. 

“Who do you want to sit with, Arc?” Nova asked her friend as she turned to look at the redhead. 

“Hmm... I got along pretty well with Mark and Taeyong when they were here, so one of them.” Arcadia responded simply as she paused in drying a dish.

“Oh? Arcadia is interested in sitting next to guys and not Nova or Eclipse? What is this now?” Kim-Lee questioned as she handed a clean dish to Arcadia to dry off. 

“Don't get ahead of yourself. They are nice guys and are interesting. I don't want to get bored during our trip, so sitting next to them will entertain me.” Arcadia took the dish and began to dry it. 

“It probably makes it better since you're a fan of them. I bet you're trying to get close to them. I'm sure you-”

“Whoa. Calm down and stop whatever thought process you're going through. I have no romantic interest in them. I have no interest in a romantic relationship after my last one. So no. I'm not trying to 'get close to them' for any reason other than friendship.” Arcadia's words ended that conversation. She then put the last dish away in the cupboard and headed to her room.

“Way to go, you've upset her,” Nova commented to Kim-Lee. Kim-Lee just sighed and frowned. 

“You shouldn't be assuming things, you know Arcadia would never go into anything with those types of negative intentions anyway.” Ga-eul scolded Kim-Lee simply. Kim-Lee just nodded her head. She hadn't meant it to come out so wrong. She just was trying to joke around, but she forgot about Arcadia's hate of relationships.

“Shouldn't she be getting over that soon? She can't dwell on the past forever, right?” Aurora questioned as she joined in the conversation.

“It's not the past that upsets her. It's the future. She doesn't want to get into some relationship again thinking he's the one, only for her heart to be shattered to pieces once more. She needs to find a really great guy, through and through to fall for carefully. She can't get broken again. I don't know how badly she'll react to that.” Eclipse spoke up, causing everyone else to fall silent. Amara, Nova, and Eclipse all knew how badly Arcadia's last relationship's failure hurt her. She didn't eat for days, she only slept and cried when she was awake. It tore her down. She was mentally thrown off and it caused her a great deal of stress. Eclipse worried that Arcadia's suicidal thoughts would return and that Arcadia would hurt herself again. She didn't want that for her sister. 

“I think we all can understand the fear of the future. Arcadia just handles that differently. Her anxiety takes over and nothing good happens after that.” Nova spoke up next sadly. 

“It probably doesn't help that she's bipolar. She spirals sometimes, even while on her meds.” Amara added in as she looked to Arcadia's door. She didn't want to see her friend upset anymore. 

“Well, we need to focus on the good right now. Tomorrow morning we're off on an adventure!” Kim-Lee stated happily. “We'll be spending a week with a group of guys that we hardly know... Oh, gods and goddesses, that sounds wrong...”

“We're all adults. We know how to behave ourselves, right?” Ga-eul asked the group sternly. 

“Yes!” Everyone responded in return, before chuckling about it. With that, they all headed to their own rooms to start their packing again. Some of them needed to fully start while others just needed to start finishing up with the packing. 

After about an hour of packing, Eclipse realized that she had way too many outfits to fit into her suitcase. So, she did the only thing she could think of; go to her sister for assistance. Eclipse went to Arcadia's door and knocked. 

“Come in?” Arcadia was confused since not many of the girls actually knocked before entering a room. 

“Hey, I need some help again,” Eclipse spoke as she opened the door to Arcadia's room. She then froze in her tracks. All over Arcadia's room were clothes. It looked like a tornado had come by and threw her closet-full of clothes everywhere.

“Yeah, same here,” Arcadia responded with a frustrated sigh. She threw down the clothes she was holding and carefully moved to Eclipse. “I have no idea what I want to wear. I don't have many different outfits, but I can't decide which tank tops and shorts I want to wear. Or if I want to throw in a dress or skirt to be fancy.”

“Okay, I'll help you, then you help me?” 

“Yeah. Sounds good.” With that, Arcadia and Eclipse began to wade through Arcadia's clothing. After a while, they had 10 outfits picked out. Most of them consisted of tank tops and shorts, but there were a skirt and a couple of dresses thrown in there as well, along with two different types of swimsuits. 

“I think you'll look great, but I'm confused a little bit.”

“Why confused?” Arcadia asked as she zipped her suitcase closed. 

“You normally don't care what you wear. You just wear what you want like I do. It seems like you're panicking a bit. Are you nervous about being around the guys? Since you are a fan of them?” 

“Oh... Um... Hmm... Maybe? I'm not sure. I don't want to make a fool of myself in front of them by wearing something stupid, you know? I guess I am worried about what they'll think of me in a way.” Arcadia sighed to herself before continuing. “I guess I really am more self-aware when it comes to being around others that I am a fan of. I don't like that. It's part of my anxiety kicking in I guess.” 

“Well, don't worry about it. You'll be just fine. They aren't the types of guys to be judgmental in a hurtful way anyway.”

“So, what did you need help with?”

“I collected too many outfits and I'm not sure which ones I want to leave behind. I guess I'm having a similar problem that you had.”

“You want to impress Taemin?” 

“Yeah, it seems so.” Eclipse chuckled and then made her way to her room next door. Arcadia followed behind and gasped when she saw all the outfits laid out on Eclipse's bed. 

“Yo... How many outfits did you set out?” Arcadia was in complete shock. 

“Um... I didn't count but there's a lot of them.” 

“How many do you want to keep?” 

“About half or less.” 

“Okay then... Let's get to work!” Arcadia and Eclipse then dove right into Eclipse's clothes. After a much longer time than it took for Arcadia's clothes, the two sisters were done. About 12 outfits were chosen and then carefully packed away, including Eclipse's one favorite swimsuit. 

“I wonder if the others are done too,” Eclipse muttered as she sat down on her bed once her suitcase was closed. 

“I bet they are... Well maybe not Nova, she's probably having the same problem that we had.”

“Should we check on her and help her out?” 

“You can, I think I'm just going to get to bed.” Arcadia then began to head towards Eclipse's door. 

“This early? It's only 9 pm. Are you feeling alright?” Eclipse was suddenly very concerned for her sister. 

“I feel fine, just pretty tired. I don't want to be all snippy tomorrow with the guys. So I'll just get to bed. Don't worry about me.” With that, Arcadia waved goodnight to her sister and then headed to her room. Once Arcadia was there in her room, she locked her door and got ready for bed. Once she was just seated in bed, wearing her glasses and sleep clothes, she decided to read a bit of the book she'd been trying to read for months now. Arcadia had been reading a book about dragons. It was a great series that was technically targeted towards younger readers, but she loved it all the same. She was on one of the last books that'd come out so far. 

After about a half-hour of reading, Arcadia began to feel tired, more so than before. So she decided to put her book down, take off her glasses, turn off her bedside lamp and go to sleep finally. She made sure that her pink Himalayan salt lamp was turned on, illuminating the room, and then finally drifted off to sleep. 

~ ~ ~

Arcadia was awoken by her alarm clock on her phone going off, at exactly 6 am. She quickly turned off her alarm, sat up, and put her glasses on. She was quite surprised that she actually slept the whole night. She really must have been tired. 

From the rooms next to her, Arcadia could hear the other girls' alarms going off one by one. Arcadia then listened as a door opened before the voice of their leader could be heard. 

“Alright, it's time to wake up and get ready. They'll be here for us in an hour.” Ga-eul called out to the girls before heading back into her own room to get ready. This caused Arcadia to sigh as she didn't honestly want to get up. She had been sleeping quite peacefully. She got over it quickly though and climbed out of bed. She put her contacts in and did her normal morning routine before heading to her closet.

“Wait... What am I going to wear on our way there?” Arcadia paused as she looked through her clothes before choosing an outfit. She picked a pair of black jeans with a black tank top. She chose a blue hoodie to wear just in case she got cold, and to cover her tattoo on her lower arm. She chose to not put on the hoodie just yet though. 

“Hey, you up?” It was Nova talking through Arcadia's door with a knock. 

“Yeah, what's up?” Arcadia asked as she unlocked her door and opened it. Nova stood there with two sundresses in her hands. 

“Which one?” Nova asked holding the dresses up. One dress was plain baby blue, while the other one was pink, blue, and purple in a plaid pattern.

“The plaid one. I like that one more than the plain one.” 

“Thanks!” With that, Nova disappeared into her room, leaving Arcadia standing there alone in her doorway. Arcadia just shrugged her shoulders and went to her suitcase. She had a few things to put in there now that she was ready for the day. She then grabbed her two bags and Steve before heading into the living room with her stuff. She was the first one ready so she just sat on one of the couches. Once out there, Arcadia put on her hoodie, since it was indeed a bit chilly.

“Should I eat something?” Arcadia asked herself as she felt herself becoming slightly hungry. 

“No, we'll get food on the way,” Ga-eul responded which caused Arcadia to jolt in her seat. She hadn't heard their leader come back out of her room. 

“Oh, okay, and thanks for the heart attack,” Arcadia responded with a chuckle. Ga-eul just smiled back and set her stuff down as well. She just had two bags and nothing extra. Ga-eul was wearing striped high-waist shorts that were mainly orange with yellow in them. She wore a pink tank top/crop top type shirt. It was a favorite outfit of hers. 

“I guess we're the first two ready.” 

“Yeah. Hmm... I wonder if Eclipse is even awake...” Arcadia got up from her seat and headed for her sister's room. She knocked on the door but got no response. She knocked again, louder this time, but was startled when the door flew open. This revealed a clearly tired-looking Eclipse. 

“I didn't sleep. Help me.” Eclipse pulled Arcadia into her room and slammed the door behind her. “I can't figure out what I want to wear today. I want to wear something fancy, but I can't figure out what I want it to be.” 

“Just wear your go-to fancy outfit?” Arcadia was confused as to why Eclipse was freaking out like she was. 

“Right... That's the best choice, right?” 

“Eclipse? Don't worry. Taemin will love anything that you wear. You could wear anything and he'll love it. Don't worry.”

“You're repeating yourself...” Eclipse commented, causing Arcadia to laugh. 

“Well then it's just that important so I'm repeating myself. Don't mind that!” Arcadia laughed again as she turned to leave. 

“Thank you!” With that, Arcadia closed Eclipse's door and saw that Kim-Lee had joined Ga-eul out in the living room with her two bags. Kim-Lee was wearing a pink and lime green crop top with short sleeves. She had a fishnet shirt on underneath. She was also wearing a normal pleated black skirt with fishnets under that as well. Arcadia made a mental note that maybe she was imagining the cold since the others were dressed so lightly. 

After a few minutes, Eclipse came out with her two bags, and surprisingly not wearing something fancy. She also held in her arms the realistic white tiger cub. No one decided to question the tiger. She wore a simple pair of black ripped jeans with black flower and fishnet-type tights underneath. She had a purple tank top on with a black sweater over that. 

“What happened to fancy?” Arcadia asked simply as Eclipse approached her. 

“I panicked. How do I look?” Eclipse responded as she set her stuff down. 

“Amazing!” Nova replied as she came out of her own room with her two bags. Nova wore the dress that Arcadia had chosen. Nova entered the living room and set her stuff down next to Eclipse's stuff. “Who is left?” 

“Amara and my cousin,” Ga-eul responded as she looked towards the last two bedroom doors. When Ga-eul said her cousin, she was talking about Aurora. It wasn't as well known that they were related, but they were. 

“I'm here!” Amara called out, tripping as she left her room with her two bags. Amara wore a black spaghetti-strapped crop top with black and white striped pants. She hurried to the group but then cheered. “Yes! I'm not the last one!” 

“You thought you'd be the last to be ready?” Aurora questioned from behind Amara. Amara jolted and turned around. 

“Yes actually. I thought everyone would be waiting on me.” 

“Hmm. Well, no one needed to wait I guess. We all got ready at pretty much the same time.” Aurora was wearing a red and black checkered long-sleeved crop top with black high -waist pants. 

“Okay, so everyone is here now?” Ga-eul questioned as she looked around the room. Everyone had their bags and Arcadia and Eclipse had their extras, meaning Eclipse's tiger Precious and Arcadia's cryptid Steve. 

“We're here and ready!” Nova happily exclaimed. 

“I'm ready for bed,” Eclipse responded as she clearly didn't share the same enthusiasm as Nova did. 

“It's about 7 now, so let's start heading down,” Ga-eul spoke as she picked up her belongings. Everyone followed suit and collected their things. They all headed to the elevators but paused when they got there. They wouldn't all fit in there together in one. So, they quickly broke off into two groups and group one took one elevator as the other group waited for the other elevator to arrive.

Eventually, everyone ended up in the lobby of the building with all of their belongings. Arcadia instantly sat down and took a breather. She didn't like elevators so that was a struggle for her.

“Taemin just texted me, they're here.” Eclipse suddenly spoke up. The group then hurried out of the building through the back entrance so they weren't really spotted by any fans. The staff took their bags and loaded them into a separate van-bus thing. The women were then told to pick a vehicle and pick a seat quickly. 

Arcadia (and Steve), Eclipse (and Precious), Amara, and Nova all picked the first vehicle while Ga-eul, Kim-Lee, and Aurora picked the second one. So, the girls quickly got into their chosen vehicle. 

“Oh, I guess I chose correctly.” Eclipse commented as she noticed Taemin seated in the van-bus. Eclipse sat next to him, taking the outer seat while Taemin was next to the window. Amara chose the one seat next to Eclipse that wasn't attached to her seat. This left Arcadia and Nova to sit in the backseat. Taeyong and Mark were back there seated with a seat in between them. So, Arcadia chose the seat in between the two men while Nova picked the window seat next to Taeyong.

In the second van-bus, Ga-eul picked the single-seat while Kim-Lee picked the seat next to the window and Baekhyun. Aurora sat in the back next to the window and next to Ten, while Lucas and Kai were seated on the other side of Ten. 

“Why do you have a huge green monster?” Mark questioned as Arcadia buckled into her seat. Arcadia was beginning to see that there was no room for Steve.

“Here, I'll hold onto him.” A female staff member spoke up from the front of the ban-bus. 

“Buckle him in too, okay?” Arcadia responded as she handed Steve to the woman. “His name is Steve. He's my cryptid protector and I need him with me.” Arcadia responded to Mark simply. 

“He's cute,” Taeyong commented, causing a smile to appear on Arcadia's face. 

“Thank you. I got him from my parents for Valentine's Day a few years back, so he means a lot to me.” 

“Why does Eclipse have a tiger cub?” Taeyong questioned, not wanting to interrupt Taemin and Eclipse's conversation that they started instantly. 

“Oh, she adores Precious. She got her a few years ago for herself. She's kept her with her ever since. She means a lot to Eclipse.” Arcadia then paused and thought about something for a moment before speaking again. “Eclipse also has a huge white tiger head backpack that was given to her by her late grandmother. She left it behind though for safety reasons. She didn't want to risk it getting damaged or lost.” 

“Oh, I see. I guess she loves white tigers?”

“She does. They are her main spirit animal.” 

“Spirit animal?” Mark asked, bringing himself back into the conversation. 

“Yup. It's an animal that is pretty much your animal guide and what your soul is most connected to. I mean, that's how Eclipse views it at least.” Nova responded, entering the conversation as well. 

“What is both of yours?” Taeyong asked the two girls seated next to him. 

“Mine would be a unicorn.” Nova happily spoke, prompting both men to pause. 

“Mine's a butterfly. Though that's not an animal.”

“What do you think mine would be?” Mark asked as he was honestly curious now. 

“You're a koala. Taeyong is a black panther.” Eclipse suddenly spoke up, pausing her conversation with Taemin. She then immediately went back to talking with Taemin. Taemin however was interested in the spirit animal talk. 

“Wait, what would mine be?” Taemin asked, stopping Eclipse from continuing their original conversation.

“You're a dragon, for sure. However, we all can have up to twelve spirit animals.” 

“Why am I a koala and Taeyong is a black panther?” Mark was seemingly not thrilled with his. 

“Taeyong would also have a bunny as a spirit animal. You should look up the meanings of them to better understand my reasoning.” Eclipse responded as she then continued talking with Taemin. 

“If anyone was wondering, I'm a dolphin,” Amara spoke suddenly from her seat. 

No one was wondering.” Nova immediately stated harshly. 

“Bitch!” Amara swung around in her seat but was instantly thrown off when the van-bus took a turn. Nova just stuck her tongue out at the purple-haired woman. 

“Be nice, Nova. We're going to be here with each other for a long-ass time. We need to get along.” Arcadia scolded her younger friend. 

“Just wait until we're on the private island. Fourteen goes, but thirteen returns.” Nova's voice was low but Amara still heard it. 

“Yo!” Amara yelled back at Nova, who just laughed in return. 

“I'm joking... I think?” 

“Nova.” Eclipse sternly speaks from her seat. This caused Nova to instantly stop and turn to look out the window as if she hadn't said anything. 

“Does most of your conversations turn into fights?” Mark questions Arcadia, who just sighed in return. 

“Mostly, yes. However, that was Nova just being an ass and thinking she's funny.” Arcadia simply responded as she looked at the now pouting lilac-haired girl. 

“Can Nova even be funny?” Amara asked which caused Nova to instantly whip her head around to look at her. 

“Excuse me?!” Nova cried out as she moved to unbuckle her seat belt.

“Stop it. I'm trying to have a conversation here.” Eclipse was clearly getting annoyed with the arguing. 

“Sorry...” Both Nova and Amara muttered as they both turned to look out their own windows. 

“Sorry about them. They don't always get along the greatest.” Arcadia frowned as she spoke.

“It's alright. Every group has their disagreements.” Taeyong was clearly trying to make Arcadia feel better. She just smiled at Taeyong and then turned her attention to her phone that she just pulled out. She unlocked it and began to play around on it, finally settling on pulling out earbuds to watch some anime in peace. 

“Anime? Seriously Arc? We have friends around us and you want to be an otaku instead of being friendly?” Nova shook her head in disbelief as she spoke. 

“Mind your business. I want to watch an episode that I missed last night because I went to bed so early.” Arcadia responded as she plugged in the earbuds to her phone and then put them in her ears. She then started the episode and went off into her world of anime. 

“Does Arcadia watch a lot of anime?” Taeyong questioned as he turned to Nova. 

“She always is watching anime. Anime was the only reason she wanted to learn Japanese and go to Japan. She's obsessed. She's literally an otaku.” Nova sighed as she leaned over to see what Arcadia was watching. “You liar! That's that basketball anime you've seen like twenty times!” Nova's outburst surprised Arcadia and the men around them. 

“Mind. Your. Business. If I want to watch this anime for the twenty-first time, then I will!” Arcadia snapped before going back to her anime. Nova sighed and turned to look out the window. 

“You otaku freak...” Nova muttered as she laid her head against the back of her seat.

After about a half-hour of everyone doing their own thing, Arcadia's episode ended. Arcadia frowned to herself as she took out her earbuds and locked her phone. She looked around her to see that everyone was sleeping except her and the random staff members. Arcadia looked at Eclipse and Taemin, only to see them leaning against each other and holding hands. Their heads were together and they were as close as possible. 

“Cute,” Arcadia mumbled to herself as she unlocked her phone and unbuckled against the staff's protests. “I gotta get a picture of this.” Arcadia carefully moved to next to Taemin and Eclipse and took a picture of them. “She'll love this.” Arcadia made a mental note to send the picture to Eclipse once they were awake. With that, Arcadia moved back to her seat and buckled herself back up. 

“Did you just sit back down? Where'd you go?” Taeyong's confused voice startled Arcadia as she quickly turned to look at him. 

“Oh, um... Eclipse and Taemin look cute together, so I needed to take a picture. Here, look.” Arcadia showed the still sleepy Taeyong the picture, which brought a smile to his face. 

“They are cute,” Taeyong muttered as he rubbed his eyes and yawned. 

“We're almost to the airport.” A male staff member announced to the group of mostly sleeping idols. 

“No,” Nova muttered as she slowly straightened back up. 

“You can sleep more on the plane.” Amara yawned out as she sat up. Everyone began to wake back up and get the supplies that they might have had. While Arcadia just sat there, staring down at her phone. 

“Are you alright?” Mark asked the redhead who just nervously looked at him.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine?” Arcadia said it more like a question than anything else. 

“You don't like flying, right? I remember that being mentioned.” Taeyong spoke up next, causing Arcadia to look at him. 

“Flying is definitely on my list of things that I am terrified of.” Arcadia honestly responded. 

“Too bad. We're here.” Amara said as the group watched the van-bus pull up to the airport. 

“Fuck.” Arcadia whispered under her breath. 

“It'll be alright.” Taeyong gave Arcadia a soft smile, forcing her to feel conflicted. She wanted to smile back, but her anxiety was taking over. 

“Want me to sit next to you and hold your hand?” Eclipse asked as she unbuckled herself and stood up.

“No! You and Taemin need to sit together. I'll manage.” Arcadia tried to reassure her sister, but she sounded too nervous. 

“I'll sit with you and make sure you're alright.” The other idols were surprised by Taeyong's announcement. 

“A-Are you sure? I don't want to bother you.”

“It's not a bother, Arcadia,” Taeyong responded to her, prompting Arcadia to blush. 

“Oh, well thank you then.” 

“Wow, you really are nice,” Nova muttered in honest surprise. She didn't expect Taeyong to be so kind to someone he hardly knows. 

With that, everyone unbuckled and gathered their things. Arcadia was given Steve again, so she held tightly onto him as she and Taeyong walked together towards the private plane. With each step, Arcadia could feel her legs weighing her down, making her feel heavier and heavier.


	5. Chapter 4

“Will she be alright?” Mark asked Nova as he and the lilac-haired woman walked to the private plane together. 

“Um, she should be? I'm not sure though. She usually takes special pills to knock herself out before flying. She didn't want to this time.” Nova explained simply. Mark nodded his head and watched as Arcadia and Taeyong walked in front of them. Taemin and Eclipse were the first ones to the plane, with Amara and the others from the second van-bus trailing behind. 

“She looks about ready to pass out,” Amara commented to Mark and Nova as she caught up with the two of them. 

“Yeah...” Nova was genuinely worried about Arcadia, but right when it seemed like the redhead was going to freak out and run away or pass out, Taeyong began to speak to her. 

“Don't worry, Arcadia. Just think, no one would let us get on a plane if they had any thought that anything bad would happen. Right?” Taeyong brought up to the terrified girl. Arcadia paused and looked to Taeyong. 

“I mean... I guess you're right...” Arcadia was still quite a bit hesitant, but with Taeyong's words, Arcadia was able to finally reach the plane and get onto it. 

“Sit wherever you'd like. We have plenty of seats.” One of the flight crew, a woman, stated to the group as they got onto the plane. 

“Do you want a window seat or an aisle seat?” Taeyong asked Arcadia as they walked towards the seats.

“I don't think I could handle looking out the window, so the aisle would be great.” To Arcadia's words, Taeyong nodded his head and took a seat next to the window. All the seats were two seats together, so that worked out for everyone. 

Taeyong and Arcadia sat in the first seats on the right, while Eclipse and Taemin sat on the first seats on the left, with Eclipse seated in the aisle seat. The next row was Nova and Mark behind Taeyong and Arcadia. Seated in the row next to them were Baekhyun and Ga-eul. Behind Nova and Mark sat Amara and Aurora. Next to them were Ten and Kim-Lee. Behind Aurora sat Kai while Lucas sat behind Ten. The random staff members sat around with the cryptid, Steve, buckled in with one of them. 

“How do you feel?” Eclipse asked Arcadia as she turned to her sister. 

“Um... Nervous? Terrified? I'm not sure...” Arcadia honestly responded causing Nova to chuckle from behind Taeyong. 

“You're going to be fine, Arc, don't worry,” Nova stated as she looked at her terrified friend. 

“Nova is right. You're going to be fine. We all are.” Taeyong spoke softly to Arcadia. The redhead just nodded her head before speaking. 

“I think we should talk about something to distract me from reality,” Arcadia suggested to Taeyong. 

“What would you like to talk about?” 

“I was wondering why you all had normal-ish hair colors.” Arcadia had noticed that the guys had mostly natural hair colors. They all, other than Ten, had either black or brown hair. Ten's hair color was a light brown to blond hair color. 

“We all just decided on the colors at the same time, I guess,” Taeyong responded with a shrug of his shoulders. Arcadia nodded her head in response. “Is your red hair natural?” 

“No,” Arcadia laughed before continuing. “My natural hair color is light brown to dark blonde. It hasn't been natural in a long time though. I started dying my hair when I was sixteen-ish. Red is my go-to color, but it's been all the colors possible before.” 

“Ah, okay. Well, you do look great with red hair. It suits you.” 

“Thank you.” Arcadia gave Taeyong a genuine smile even though deep down inside Arcadia was still slightly panicking. 

“I noticed earlier that your phone lock screen is a cat. Is it your cat?” 

“Hmm? Oh, yeah he is.” Arcadia gave Taeyong a sad smile. “I had to leave him behind in America. He is too old to travel. He's about seventeen years old. His name is Flufi, spelled F-L-U-F-I. His full name is 'Sir Mr. Flufakinies The First' though.” Hearing the full name of her cat, Taeyong chuckled, while Arcadia's face turned red. “I was about seven when I named him, so it's quite childish.” 

“It's adorable and unique.” 

“He isn't the only one I left behind. I had nine inside cats and seven outside cats back home at my parents' house. Flufi is just my absolute favorite though. He's my baby.” Arcadia was too busy talking to notice anything about the plane. She didn't even notice that they'd taken off. That was until Lucas from the back stated how high up they were. Hearing this made Arcadia go pale. “Oh god...” 

“It's alright. I think the flight is only a couple of hours. Maybe you should rest? You didn't rest earlier, right?” Eclipse spoke up from her place next to the now sleeping Taemin. 

“Yeah, maybe I should rest, but I'm not sure if I could.” 

“You'll be okay, Arc. Just sleep.” Nova muttered sleepily from her seat behind Taeyong. 

“You sleep.” Arcadia returned to her friend. Arcadia then yawned and frowned afterward. “Maybe I should sleep.”

“I'll wake you up when we land,” Eclipse told her sister. Arcadia just nodded her head and tried to figure out how to get all comfortable in her seat. 

“I think I'll rest too,” Taeyong muttered to himself. 

Soon enough, and despite Eclipse stating she'd wake Arcadia up, all of the idols were asleep. They peacefully slept until the plane began to land. This woke up Eclipse who then in turn woke up Arcadia so she wouldn't be freaking out for some reason. 

“How did I actually sleep?” Arcadia mumbled to herself as she woke herself up.

“I'm surprised that you were able to sleep too, especially after getting so much sleep last night,” Eclipse responded with a chuckle. 

“Yo, I'm always up for a nap.” Arcadia and Eclipse laughed together, causing a ruckus loud enough to wake up Taemin and Taeyong. 

“Are we there?” Taemin asked as he looked around, still a bit out of it. He looked out his window and got his answer. 

“Did we wake you up? I'm sorry.” Eclipse said to Taemin as she turned to face him. 

“How did you sleep?” Taeyong's sudden words caused Arcadia to jolt. She hadn't noticed that he'd woken up. 

“Oh damn. You startled me.” Arcadia held her chest as she felt her heart beat crazily. “But I slept good. How about you?”

“It was alright, but my neck was at an odd angle so now it aches a bit.” Taeyong honestly answered which caused Arcadia to nod her head sympathetically. 

“Here is Steve, you'll be able to keep him with you now.” One of the staff members stated as he handed Steve back to Arcadia. 

“Oh, thank you.” Arcadia gave him a smile before he returned to the other staff members. 

“Now it's time to board a boat and head to the private island,” Nova spoke up excitedly even though she'd just woken up. 

“You have a lot of energy,” Mark commented to the lilac-haired woman. Nova laughed and nodded her head. 

“Of course I do! I'm super excited about this trip!” 

“You're being loud, Nova,” Aurora stated as she unbuckled herself and stood up. Nova pouted but didn't say anything back to her. 

Everyone then unbuckled themselves and headed off of the plane. They were loaded into van-bus things again and were off to the dock nearby to get on the boat. Once there, Eclipse began to feel a sense of panic. 

“We really couldn't have taken a plane to get to the island?” Eclipse questioned no one in particular. 

“There isn't an airport on the island,” Ga-eul responded to the fearful woman. 

“Come on, it's fine as long as we don't see any sunken ships, right?” Nova asked Eclipse as she bumped her in a friendly way. “You don't need to worry. Taemin wouldn't let anything happen to you anyway.” Nova then chuckled and hurried off before Eclipse could respond in any way. 

“I'll be glad once we get to the beach house. I want to sleep without being scared.” Arcadia muttered mostly to herself. 

“Same,” Eclipse responded immediately with a chuckle.

“Is Steve heavy for you to carry?” Amara suddenly asked Arcadia, since she'd been dragging her feet. 

“Hmm? No, he isn't. I'm just not thrilled about boats.” Arcadia responded hesitantly.   
“Why? You aren't afraid of it sinking are you?” 

“I'm more just overall afraid of drowning or my things getting ruined.” 

“Way to have your priorities straight...” Amara then walked faster, to catch up with Nova. 

“Well excuse me for loving my belongings...” Arcadia mumbled, even though Amara couldn't hear her anymore. With that, everyone was hurried along to reach the boat. It wasn't that big of a boat, but it wasn't that small either. The idols were lead to the part of the boat they could sit and wait in. It turned out to be an upper deck with seating. 

“Arc! Come here!” Nova was leaning against the edge of the railing all happily and bouncing in place. 

“Um, no,” Arcadia responded simply as she took a seat next to Eclipse. Eclipse was seated as far away from the railing as possible. Taemin sat on her right while Arcadia sat on her left. “You good?” 

“For now,” Eclipse responded as she tried to keep a positive mind. However, the moment the boat began to move, Eclipse went even paler than she already was. 

“Are you alright?” Taemin was instantly worried. He took a hold of one of Eclipse's hands, trying to comfort her gently. 

“I'll just exit this situation...” Arcadia muttered to herself as she got up and walked away from the two who were now staring into each other's eyes. Arcadia decided to head to Nova, who was still leaning against the railing. 

“You okay?” Nova asked when she saw the part-disgust and part-sad look on Arcadia's face.

“Yeah, just didn't want to interrupt a moment between Eclipse and Taemin.”

“You look disgusted and sad.”

“Do I?” Arcadia had genuine confusion in her voice. She instantly wiped that look from her face. She tried to smile at Nova, but it came out as a sad smile. 

“Now you just look sad.” 

“I know, I know. I feel it.” 

“Why do you feel sad?” Amara questioned, joining in the conversation. She had been a few feet away from Nova and Arcadia and heard everything that was said. 

“I guess I just feel off more than sad, to be honest. For all our lives, it has been me with someone occasionally, but now Eclipse has someone. Is this how she felt when I was dating? Hollow and worried that she'd be left behind?” Arcadia's words caused Nova and Amara to pause. 

“You've been taking your medication, right?” 

“What does that have to do with this situation?” Arcadia was clearly a little ticked off that Amara had asked that question. 

“I was just making sure. You don't normally go all dark randomly unless something up or you stopped your meds.”

“I haven't stopped my meds in a while. I'm just honestly feeling weird right now.”

“Talk to Eclipse about it,” Nova spoke up, prompting Arcadia to shake her head instantly. 

“Hell no. I can't bring it up, I don't want her to push away from Taemin or something stupid because of me.” 

“Arcadia, you-” 

“Enough. I shouldn't have brought it up, forget I said anything.” Arcadia then began to walk off, causing Amara and Nova to panic a little bit.

“Wait!” Amara tried to reach out for Arcadia's arm, but she brushed it off and went to the other side of the deck they were on. Arcadia managed to find a seat to sit on that was big enough for herself and Steve. She'd grown tired of carrying him but didn't want him out of her sight at that moment in time. 

“Are you alright?” Arcadia jolted at the sound of Kai's voice. She hadn't noticed that he'd approached her. 

“I'm fine,” Arcadia responded simply. Kai just frowned before speaking again.

“I know we don't really know each other enough, but you can tell me if you aren't alright.”

“I... am not alright, but I will be. I'd just rather not talk about it if that's alright?” Arcadia looked up to Kai and smiled at him. “Thank you for caring though.” 

“Of course. We're all friends now. Friends care about each other.” With that, Kai walked off, joining Taemin and Eclipse. Arcadia figured that he was mentioning that I wasn't alright to Eclipse or something, but she didn't care. She'd act like she was alright to her sister. She didn't want to cause any issues. Arcadia was too busy staring at Eclipse to realize that Ten had walked up next to her and Steve. 

“So, I heard that his name is Steve.” Ten's voice caused Arcadia to jolt once more. 

“Um, yeah. He's my cryptid and protects me. I take him on overnight trips.” Arcadia responded once she'd recovered from the fright she'd felt from Ten's appearance. 

“Eclipse has a white tiger with her, right?” 

“Yeah, her name is Precious. She's important to Eclipse so she brings her everywhere.” 

“I see. It's different to see people carrying around such things, but it isn't a bad different.” 

“No, no. It's a bad different, it's alright.” Arcadia laughed and picked Steve up before placing him next to her on the ground. “You can sit if you want.”

“Thank you.” Ten sat next to the redhead and looked to her. “I heard your conversation with Kai. Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?” 

“Hmm... Probably pretty sure. I don't usually like talking about my issues.” 

“How come?”

“I don't like bothering people with unnecessary drama.”

“You think your feelings are unnecessary?”

“Something like that. It's also a bit of not wanting to feel vulnerable around people. Even if I'm close to them.” Arcadia turned to look at Ten and smiled at him. “I always tell Eclipse and Nova, if I wanted to talk about my problems, I'd go to therapy and talk to a professional, but I don't, so I won't.” Before Ten could say anything, Arcadia yawned and stood up. 

“Where are you going?” 

“I want to get a few pictures of the surroundings before we reach land.” With Steve back in her arms, Arcadia headed towards the railing. She set Steve down and pulled out her phone. She snapped some pictures and this caused her to remember the picture she'd taken of Eclipse and Taemin sleeping together, so she quickly sent that picture to her sister and then put her phone away. Just as she was getting ready to turn back to sit back down, she felt a presence near her. She turned to her right to see Taeyong standing there, doing what she'd just done; taking pictures of their surroundings. 

“It's beautiful out here, isn't it?” Taeyong asked Arcadia as he put his phone away. 

“It is.” 

“You aren't nervous here?”

“Oh, I forgot that I was nervous.” Arcadia laughed a bit before shaking her head. “I guess I got distracted from being nervous.” 

“That's good.” Taeyong smiled at her but before either of them could say anything more, Mark approached them. 

“I heard that we should start being able to see the island soon,” Mark informed Taeyong and Arcadia. 

“That's great. I'm sure Eclipse will be thrilled to get off of this boat before we... Ah shit.” Arcadia interrupted herself when she began to see a sunken ship up ahead.

“There's one there! I know it. I feel it.” Eclipse's voice could be heard approaching Arcadia, Taeyong, and Mark. 

“How do you know that?” Kai's question was answered when he, Eclipse, and Taemin all reached the railing.

“I knew it!” Eclipse's feeling of being right soon faded into fear. “Fuck!” Eclipse then began to crumple to the floor, bringing Taemin down with her. 

“Are you alright?” Taemin questioned as he allowed Eclipse to pull him down to his knees with her. 

“Is she alright?” Kai asked clearly worried now. 

“She doesn't like sunken ships.” Arcadia simply responded as she moved to block eclipses view of the underwater boat. 

“She's really going to hate this then...” Kai muttered as he looked out into the waters in front of them. 

“There's more... We're going to be over one in a moment...” Eclipse whispered mostly to herself. 

“Just remain calm, we'll pass over them quickly,” Taemin responded to Eclipse as he held her in his arms as she began to hyperventilate. “Breathe slower, I don't want you passing out.” 

“You better not pass out,” Arcadia spoke to her sister calmly.

“Is she okay? I saw the ships, we're about to be past them now.” Nova spoke as she got closer to the group surrounding Eclipse. 

“There is one right below us...” Eclipse muttered as she looked down at the floor. Mark leaned over the railing to see if she was right and she was. 

“You're right, how do you know that?” Mark was quite surprised. 

“Witchy witch powers?” Nova suggested, causing Mark to be even more surprised, but with a hint of confusion now. 

“'Witchy witch powers'?” Taeyong questioned before Mark could. He as well was confused. 

“Did you forget that Arcadia mentioned that Eclipse is a witch? We can explain more later.” Nova told the two men before she crouched down to Eclipse. “We're past the ships now, we can see land now, want to see it?” Nova asked the recovering woman. 

“No.” Eclipse simply stated as she and Taemin stood back up cautiously. Taemin helped Eclipse go and sit back down where they'd sat originally.

“She seems happy.” 

“Oh yes, she's thrilled. Isn't that obvious?” Arcadia's words were harsh and cold as she glared at Nova. Nova just smiled at her and watched as Arcadia went to her sister. 

“She seems happy too.” 

“Why did Arcadia get upset with you?” Mark asked the lilac-haired woman. 

“Hmm, probably because I don't really seem to care too much about Eclipse's fears? I may have offended her a bit? Or maybe it's just Arcadia's mood swings? Not sure.” Nova smiled kindly at the men and then turned around to head back to Amara. 

“That was all kinds of confusing,” Kai spoke to Taeyong and Mark. Both of them nodded their heads in response. Just then, some staff members came to the idols to tell them that they'll be docking soon, so gather all of their belongings that they carried with them. 

“Well, at least things should get better from here on out, right? I mean, we're on vacation. How could this go wrong?” Mark asked, but immediately regretted asking. Kai gave Mark a worried smile and walked off while Taeyong just patted Mark's shoulder before he too walked off. 

“You good, sis?” Arcadia asked Eclipse as she sat Steve down next to the pink-haired woman. 

“I feel a lot better now that this boat ride is almost over,” Eclipse responded honestly. “Are you good? Kai told me something was up with you, but he didn't know the specifics of anything.” 

“I have no interest in talking about it,” Arcadia responded immediately and probably a little too harsh. 

“You can't just keep things bottled up inside of you all of the time.” Instead of replying, Arcadia grabbed Steve and walked off. She had no interest in arguing with her sister over the same thing that they always argued about. If Arcadia wanted to talk about it, she would.

“We're here, it's time to get off the boat.” A male staff member informed Arcadia, prompting her to nod her head. 

“Thank you for letting me know,” Arcadia responded as she headed towards the exit of the boat. She was the first one there and watched as the staff began to get ready to move their belongings off of the boat.

“Hey, Arc, don't leave without us!” Nova cried out as Arcadia began her trek off of the boat. She ignored Nova and walked until she reached the safety of the dock. Nova hurried up and ran after her. “Meanie!” Nova playfully shoved Arcadia, not hard enough to knock her over or anything. 

“If you want to see mean, I can be mean.” 

“No thanks. You really know how to cut down deep into people. I don't need to cry right now.” To Nova's words, Arcadia laughed and nodded her head. “Do you think that's our house?” Nova asked as she looked to the only house in sight. It was a little walk from the dock, and it was huge. It clearly could hold a lot of people comfortably. 

“It is. Let's go.” Ga-eul's sudden appearance startled both Arcadia and Nova. 

“Yo, stop scaring people. It isn't nice.” Arcadia pretended to scold her leader. 

“What do you know about being nice?” 

“Fuck! That hurt!” Arcadia pretended that she was physically harmed and took a step back away from her leader. Ga-eul just ignored her and continued to walk towards the house. Everyone went along with Ga-eul and eventually ended up at the large house. 

“Damn...” Kim-Lee muttered as she and the others paused to look at the outside of the house close up. The outside color of the house was a pale blue color. It had some beach-themed things hanging on the outside of it. The house clearly had 2 levels to it with outside showers and a pool. As everyone went inside, they could see just how large everything really was. There were three large couches in the large living room, with a few extra chairs. The kitchen had a full-sized table and many chairs around it. All the other doors were closed, so no one could see anything else. 

“This is a huge house. How will we decide on our rooms?” Baekhyun questioned the group and the staff. 

“Every room is the same, just with a different design.” One of the staff responded before continuing. “However, I suggest everyone sits and talks about the rooms so no one gets a room they don't want.” 

“Alright, that sounds good.” Baekhyun nodded his head before speaking again. “Let's sit down and talk then.” With that, everyone took their seats. Eclipse, Taemin, Arcadia, and Nova took one couch. Taeyong, Mark, Ga-eul, and Amara took another, while Kim-Lee, Baekhyun, Ten, and Aurora took the last couch. This left Kai and Lucas to sit in the chairs. 

“How many bedrooms are upstairs and on this floor?” Ga-eul questioned the staff.

“There are eight bedrooms upstairs and eight bedrooms on this floor.” A male staff member responded simply. 

“Okay, so for starters, I want a bedroom upstairs.” Eclipse started before anyone else could talk. 

“Same,” Arcadia spoke up immediately after her sister. 

“I want an upstairs bedroom too,” Taemin said, followed by Taeyong, Mark, Ten, and Nova. 

“I'm good with a downstairs bedroom,” Baekhyun admitted followed by Ga-eul, Kim-Lee, Aurora, Amara, Kai, and Lucas. 

“That went a lot easier than I thought it would.” Nova laughed as she spoke. 

“We still have to decide on our actual rooms, but for now let's go up there and figure out who is getting what room,” Eclipse spoke up as she stood up from her seat. Arcadia, Taemin, Taeyong, Mark, Ten, and Nova all stood up as well and followed Eclipse upstairs. 

Upstairs there was a long hallway with four bedrooms on one side and four bedrooms on the other. There were two rooms facing the ocean, two rooms facing the road and trees, and then four rooms that just faced the trees around them. 

“Can I have a room facing the trees, but next to Eclipse?” Arcadia asked hesitantly. 

“Not a room facing the road or ocean?” Taemin questioned, clearly confused. 

“I don't want to look out my window and see someone standing there. I'd rather see just trees.” 

“Alright, not a problem. Eclipse, what room do you want?” Taemin asked as he turned to the pink-haired woman. 

“I think I'd like an ocean-facing room if that's alright?” Eclipse responded as she peaked into one of the ocean-facing rooms. Taemin looked at the group around him and everyone nodded their heads.

“Sure.” 

“Who gets the other ocean-facing room?” Nova asked before continuing. “I don't want it, I want to be next to Arcadia.” 

“Taemin can take it?” Ten suggested to the group. 

“Sure that sounds good, right?” Everyone else nodded their heads in agreement. 

“Alright. I'll take this one, the right one and you take the left one, okay?” Eclipse asked Taemin as she walked into the bedroom she chose. 

“So I'll get this room, and Nova will get that room?” Arcadia asked as she opened up the room door right next to Eclipse's door. Nova opened up the door next to Arcadia's door then. 

“I'll take the room across from Arcadia then, alright?” Ten spoke up next. 

“Sure, I'll take the room next to yours then,” Taeyong said after Ten. 

“I guess my room will be next to yours then,” Mark responded as he turned to Taeyong. 

“So then I don't have anyone on the other side of me?” Nova asked, trying to understand the situation. 

“Right. That can be an extra room for all our empty luggage.” Eclipse spoke up as she closed the bedroom door that she'd chosen. “Let's go get our stuff.” Arcadia nodded her head and tossed Steve onto her chosen room's bed. 

“Alright.” With that, everyone headed downstairs to get their bags. “So, which rooms did everyone down here choose?” Nova questioned as she walked down the stairs to see the rest of the group sitting on the couches just chatting. 

“Ga-eul and I got the ocean-facing rooms,” Baekhyun responded to the lilac-haired woman. 

“I'm next to Baekhyun and Lucas is next to me,” Kai spoke up next for himself and Lucas. 

“Next to our leader is me,” Kim-Lee responded before continuing. “Next to me is Aurora and Amara is the last in the row.” 

“Alright, cool.” Nova nodded her head and followed Eclipse to where the staff had set down their belongings. 

“I'm going to go unpack.” Eclipse declared as she collected her things. Everyone else decided to do the same thing as well. So, everyone broke off, gathered their bags, and headed to their chosen rooms.


End file.
